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Saturday, January 16, 2010

MFP Weekend Industry Notes

- Budgeting inadequately, as most do not include necessary funds for:- planning, consulting, designing, testing, implementing, training, evaluating and improvement- professional services fees for customization- staff resources- temporary staffing for back file conversion- ongoing training expenses- Failing to see things through from start to finish- Dropping the ball, by not following plan- Staffing inadequately, by not putting extra resources in place during implementation- Interrupting with 1001 questions- Cutting corners that compromise system performance- Poor communication

MWAi announced it is launching a new program to allow independent dealers to offer a nationwide managed print services program. The MWAi National Managed Print Services (nMPS) program will allow a dealer to access a network of 3,000+ technicians across the country, to service and supply printers, with ability to see call activity real-time, manage pricing, as well as open and close service calls on a common industry ERP.

According a survey of law firms conducted by Mattern & Associates:- Average charge to clients for outgoing fax was $1.17 per page- Average cost for a color copy of $0.81 per page- Average cost for a color print of $0.78 per page- Average cost for a b/w print of $0.18 per page- Average cost for phone consultation was $0.12 per minute- Firms that capture data from local printers versus network printers increased from 38% to 50%- Total output from printers and copiers increased by 7% year over year- Fax volume decreasing, but replaced by increased scanning volume- 26% now charging for scans- Color output is now considered standard, and no longer only for marketing

PayNet Inc. reported that small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with accounts behind 180 days or more, and unlikely ever to be paid, rose 0.91% in November from 0.87% in October. This is the 22nd consecutive monthly increase in loans so far in arrears they ultimately may have to be written off by lenders.

A company that specializes in selling used copiers claims its business is booming. Copiers Refurbished Inc., run by Randy Mecheles, leases used copiers on a 24 month to 48 month term with $1.00 buyout at end of term. The company sells over the Internet, and charges $425 to ship anywhere in the U.S. However, do they tell customers that they must find a local dealer to service it for them once it arrives?

Memjet, the company that has been promising a high speed color inkjet copier, announced it has hired a new executive. Len Lauer, former COO of Qualcomm, will be the new Memjet President and CEO, working out the San Diego office. (Memjet has 2,600patents related to technology developed by Mr. Kia Silverbrook of Australia)

Apple Computer is estimated to have sold 3.3 million Mac computers during last quarter. This breaks an all time sales record of 3.05 million Mac’s during the previous quarter, or a 31% increase year over year. In contrast, worldwide computer sales are only up 2.3% in units.

Sony Corp.’s Vice Chairman, Ryoji Chubachi, was quoted in Business Week magazine as saying that the country of Japan may face a second recession. “There’s a risk of a double-dip recession. For companies, the most difficult position to be in is when prices keep dropping and demand doesn’t increase.”

Apple also plans on launching its new tablet computer in March, according to the Wall Street Journal, and it will have a 11” touch screen full color LCD

Xerox, which is trying to increase sales of its wax copier, the ColorQube, recently revealed that it used HyperWorks software from Altair ProductDesign Inc. of Troy, Michigan, to design the print engine in the ColorQube.

One company sues another over a printer. Wet Enterprises of Sun Valley, CA, best known for designing the water fountains in Las Vegas casinos, sued Bren Instruments of College Grove, TN claiming that the company misrepresented the capabilities of an $18,000 color label printer. Bren countersued for $1.5 million, claiming that the lawsuit caused damaged the company’s reputation.

Care New England Healthcare System awarded a document management solution bid to The SSI Group Inc. Details:- healthcare firm was printing more than 47,000 reports per year- total of 1,915,861 pieces of paper per year- average cost per impression of 3.2 cents- claims to be now saving up to $100,000 per year

Tekgraf, a distributor of wide format systems, abruptly closed its doors on 12/16/2009. The company provided HP, Epson, Canon and other color inkjet systems to dealers across the U.S. Last year, the company had moved to a much larger, more expensive facility in South Carolina.

4 men were arrested in Bensalem, Pennsylvania for making fake $20 bills using a color copier. Jesse Velez, Edward Casigne, Scott Bolden, and Avery Fitzpatrick were caught when they used the fake money to purchase over $1500 worth of electronics at a local Target. The men are now in Bucks County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, and facing up to 45 years in prison.

- Documents will be stored in a Cloud, via players like Google, Microsoft, Adobe or Amazon.- Paper consumption will continue to decrease significantly for green and financial incentives.- Electronic book readers (eReaders) will become ubiquitous for specific usages. Paperback books will become the exception.- Formats of electronic documents will become increasingly standardized.

Panasonic is being sued by a dealer that it cancelled. The case will be heard in Sacramento, where a dealer named JRS Products, was apparently cancelled by Panasonic, when the company found out it was selling remanufactured versions of toner cartridges that worked with Panasonic printers, MFPs and fax machines.

Plymouth County, Iowa, announced it will attempt to implement a paperless court system. Attorneys, judges, clerks of court and support staff will receive training in the first 90 days on scanning and searching procedures. If the test is successful, the state hopes to launch in other counties.

Hewlett Packard announced it has appointed John Solomon as Senior Vice President over its printer/MFP division for the Asia/Pacific and Japanese markets, reporting to Vyomesh Joshi.

Kyocera announced it will conduct a road show across the U.S. to promote its new managed print services program, and use Steve Rolla (Print Management Solutions Group of Florida) as its keynote speakers.

Lexmark announced it offer a new embedded solution for its MFPs with color LCD touch screens. It will offer AutoStore Document Capture from Notable Solutions Inc. (NSi)

The Australian State Public Health Department, awarded a $750,000 document management solution bid to Kofax Corp.

According to a document on Hewlett Packard’s website, the average cost to print a letter-size, two-sided color page on its OfficeJet Pro series of printers, is a whopping 64 cents per page.

According to Lyra Research, the wide format printer market declined 19.1% in the last year.

According to survey conducted by The Forrester Group, 22% of respondents prefer using Microsoft SharePoint for its electronic content management (ECM) capabilities, and 52% said it will replace their existing ECM system.

Direct Color Systems Inc. launched the Millenium 700, which can produce a full color plastic name badge in 25 seconds. Purchase price, and cost per card were not announced.

A copier dealer buys an IT company. Loffler Companies, a Konica Minolta, Canon & Kyocera dealer, announced it has acquired Techies IT. Founded by Robert Stephens, of Best Buy’s Geek Squad fame, Techies IT had 100 business customers, and $2 million in annual revenue of managed IT services. Loffler is owned by Jim Loffler of Minneapolis, MN, and has annual revenues of $50 million with 300 employees.

Ricoh announced that its Senior Product Marketing Manager for Wide Format, Linda Maxwell Allen, has left the company.

The City of McKinney, Texas, awarded a managed print services contract to Marimon, Inc., a local dealer.

A dealer wins a document management bid in Pennsylvania. Altek Business Systems, using Kodak scanners and DocuWare software, won a contract from Penn Stainless Products Inc., a stainless steel producer and distributor.

Supplies Network announced it has hired Doug Johnson as Senior Vice President. Mr. Johnson has spent last 3 years developing the CARBON SiX managed print services program.

A company named “Readius” claims it will launch an unfurling, scroll-like, screen-based electronic book reader.

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Dealer in CaliforniaArt, could not agree more. Have a great Thanksgiving and thank you for all the information you post.

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Dealer in ArizonaThanks also for the time you spend making this site as good as it is!

Dealer in FloridaHappy Thanksgiving to all members of the P4P Hotel.
Art, your work ethic is amazing. Thank you for everything you do to help us all.

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Dealer in WashingtonDear P4P Hotel Administrators - Just wanted to drop
you a line and let you know I have changed positions and have left the
office equipment technologies industry. I have taken on a new role in
the teleconferencing and web conferencing industry as of June of this
year. The service you have and are providing is INVALUABLE. Any RFG consultant/rep
worth their salt should be utilizing your site. I would highly recommend
you charge a reasonable fee for these services, as the information you
provide from around the world cannot be packaged adequately by the manufacturers.
Other associations from other industries charge for memberships; this
is a very small investment that provides tremendous "down-in-the-trenches"
resources to the members.

Dealer in CaliforniaI really like your site……a lot of good info and we are all in sales regardless if we are technically selling daily.

Dealer in WisconsinI came to know Art many years ago when he had the vision and creativity to develop the P4P Hotel website where people around the world could blog, post questions, get answers and find knowledge they needed to better perform in their jobs. Personally, I have greatly benefitted from his site in helping me to get the information I needed to help current customer or win deals in my role as a product specialist. I don't know the numbers, but there I would estimate there are thousands of users around the world that use the site. On occasion, I have talked to Art personally to discuss a few things and he was very helpful and the conversations assisted me in securing business. He is very knowledgeable in what he does but also has the interest and desire to help others in the industry. I know of no other site such as the one that Art developed and it has been a huge success. Sometimes companies will put together a site where employees can interact and get information but the site Art created has brought people together from around the world and with diverse backgrounds. Art is a person who has vision & creativity, dedication to take the time to put together and manage the site in addition to performing other roles he has. He is a person that believes in himself and his capabilities and puts them to good use going above and beyond what is expected. I would highly recommend Art to anyone looking for a go-getter and needs someone with vision and dedication

Dealer in NJI've been a big fan of Art's for many years. He is arguably the go to guy in the industry for market insight and product knowledge. The P4P website is a labor of love, and it's appreciated by fellow sales professionals looking to improve their game. I would recommend Art without hesitation.

Dealer in MassI have known Art Post for several years. I got to know him first by reading the P4PayHotel. Which is a great resource for anyone who is in the industry. Art has established great relationships with many of the movers and shakers both with the Dealer community and the direct community.
Art truly knows the "copier" industry. He is a real sales professional, with toner in his blood. I highly recommend him to you!

Dealer in CanadaArt is one of the most knowledgeable and thoughtful document reps I have ever known. He puts untold hours into helping our industry understand current and future trends. Somehow he continues to support and service a strong group of clients for the dealership where he works as well. Art is the ultimate in professional print solutions sales.

Dealer in PAArt Post, a seasoned member of the Office Equipment business has been instrumental in providing industry related content, opinion and opportunity to the rest of us via the P4P Hotel collection of sites, blogs and forums. Originally dedicated to Ricoh related information, the P4P Hotel has over the years, evolved into a brand agnostic source for everything from equipment RFPs to the latest in content management applications to guest contributors evangelizing on their latest project successes.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Art for the better part of the last 10 years. First through the P4P Hotel and later more directly, when we both worked for the same Mid-Atlantic dealership. Art’s professional dedication to his sales responsibilities coupled with his unwavering commitment to supporting the thousands of visitors to the P4P Hotel are important inspirations to the industry and all of its members.

Senior AnalystArt is one of the most driven, knowledgeable, and connected people I have worked with in the industry. In addition to his decades of experience on the sales side of the office machine business, Art's P4P Hotel has brought together thousands of sales professionals and serves as one of the best platforms for sharing information and advice in the industry. I am a better analyst because of Art and the P4P Hotel.

Dealer in NYArt is great to work with. He was very creative in finding ways to help my business grow. As a result, I was able to generate several leads and gain greater acceptance of my products in the industry.

Dealer in IndianaArt: your P4P Hotel site as been a mainstay for the copier industry.
Thanks for a great tool and education device for all office equipment sales people.

Dealer in GeorgiaArt is tremendously well rounded at the skill of docusultancy. He also is able to bring thousands of like minded professionals together to discuss strategies for success. I highly recommend him as a true sales professional and an innovative fellow entrepreneur.

Dealer in NJIn an industry that is mature and saturated, Art is, indeed, a rare breed. He is truly entrepreneurial in his business approach, he is thoroughly knowledgeable about the digital imaging business and his P4P Hotel is an honest and credible necessity.

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We are connected! With over 2,300 worldwide members, the information that comes across the message boards is enormous. The latest selling techniques, strategies, future products from the manufacturers and rumors are daily posts on the message boards. Plain and simple we're connected with right people!

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